1. What is Tenable Vulnerability Management? A cloud-based vulnerability
management solution that provides continuous visibility and critical context for
modern attack surfaces.
2. What was Tenable Vulnerability Management formerly known as?
Tenable.io
3. What are the main components of the Tenable platform? Tenable
Vulnerability Management, Tenable Security Center, Nessus Professional,
Nessus Expert, Tenable Web App Scanning, and Tenable Cloud Security.
4. What is a Nessus scanner? A vulnerability assessment tool that identifies
vulnerabilities, configuration issues, and malware in networks, systems, and
applications.
5. What are the two types of Nessus scanners? Nessus Professional
(standalone) and Nessus Manager (managed through Tenable.io or Security
Center).
6. What is the difference between authenticated and unauthenticated
scans? Authenticated scans use credentials to log into systems for deeper
analysis, while unauthenticated scans only assess externally visible
vulnerabilities.
7. What is a scan zone? A logical grouping of scanners that share network
proximity to target assets.
8. What is the purpose of sensor groups in Tenable? To organize and manage
multiple scanners for distributed scanning environments.
9. What is a scan template? A pre-configured scan configuration with specific
settings, plugins, and parameters for different scanning scenarios.
10. What are the built-in scan templates in Tenable? Basic Network Scan,
Advanced Scan, Web Application Tests, Malware Scan, PCI Quarterly External
Scan, and others.
,11. What is the Vulnerability Priority Rating (VPR)? A dynamic scoring
system that prioritizes vulnerabilities based on threat intelligence and technical
impact.
12. How does VPR differ from CVSS? VPR considers real-world threat data
and exploit availability, while CVSS is a static score based on technical
characteristics.
13. What is the VPR score range? 0.1 to 10.0, with higher scores indicating
higher priority.
14. What is Asset Criticality Rating (ACR)? A user-defined rating (Low,
Medium, High, Critical) that indicates the business importance of an asset.
15. What is Predictive Prioritization? Tenable's algorithm that combines VPR
and other factors to predict which vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited.
16. What is the Cyber Exposure Score? A metric that quantifies an
organization's overall cybersecurity risk posture.
17. What are asset tags in Tenable? Labels that can be applied to assets for
organization, filtering, and reporting purposes.
18. What is dynamic asset tagging? Automatically applying tags to assets
based on rules and criteria such as IP range, operating system, or vulnerability
presence.
19. What is a plugin? A detection module that checks for specific
vulnerabilities, configuration issues, or compliance violations.
20. What is a plugin family? A category grouping related plugins together
(e.g., Windows, Databases, Web Servers).
21. How often are Tenable plugins updated? Daily, as new vulnerabilities are
discovered and disclosed.
22. What is the plugin feed? The service that delivers updated plugins to
Nessus scanners.
23. What are the different plugin feed types? Home Feed (48-hour delay),
Professional Feed (real-time for Nessus Professional), and Enterprise Feed
(real-time for managed scanners).
24. What is a compliance audit in Tenable? A scan that checks systems
against compliance frameworks like PCI DSS, HIPAA, CIS benchmarks, or
custom policies.
, 25. What file formats does Tenable support for compliance audits? .audit
files that contain compliance checks and expected configurations.
26. What is a credentialed scan? A scan that uses authentication credentials to
perform deeper, more thorough assessments of target systems.
27. What types of credentials can Tenable use? SSH, Windows
(local/domain), SNMP, ESXi, database credentials, and various application-
specific credentials.
28. What is least-privileged scanning? Using accounts with minimum
necessary permissions to perform vulnerability scans while maintaining
security.
29. What permissions are needed for Windows credentialed scans? Local
administrator or domain administrator rights, with access to administrative
shares.
30. What permissions are needed for Linux credentialed scans? SSH access
with sudo or root privileges.
31. What is the recommended approach for credential management? Use
dedicated service accounts with appropriate permissions, rotate credentials
regularly, and use encrypted credential storage.
32. What is a scan policy? A reusable configuration template that defines scan
settings, plugins, credentials, and compliance checks.
33. What is the difference between a scan template and a scan policy?
Templates are pre-built by Tenable; policies are custom configurations created
by users.
34. What is a discovery scan? A lightweight scan designed to identify active
assets on the network without performing deep vulnerability assessment.
35. What protocols does Tenable use for asset discovery? ICMP, TCP/UDP
port scanning, ARP, SNMP, NetBIOS, and various application-specific
protocols.
36. What is passive network monitoring? Observing network traffic without
actively scanning to identify assets and detect vulnerabilities.
37. What Tenable product performs passive monitoring? Nessus Network
Monitor (NNM) or Passive Vulnerability Scanner (PVS).
38. What is the benefit of passive scanning? Non-intrusive monitoring that
doesn't generate network traffic or potentially disrupt systems.
management solution that provides continuous visibility and critical context for
modern attack surfaces.
2. What was Tenable Vulnerability Management formerly known as?
Tenable.io
3. What are the main components of the Tenable platform? Tenable
Vulnerability Management, Tenable Security Center, Nessus Professional,
Nessus Expert, Tenable Web App Scanning, and Tenable Cloud Security.
4. What is a Nessus scanner? A vulnerability assessment tool that identifies
vulnerabilities, configuration issues, and malware in networks, systems, and
applications.
5. What are the two types of Nessus scanners? Nessus Professional
(standalone) and Nessus Manager (managed through Tenable.io or Security
Center).
6. What is the difference between authenticated and unauthenticated
scans? Authenticated scans use credentials to log into systems for deeper
analysis, while unauthenticated scans only assess externally visible
vulnerabilities.
7. What is a scan zone? A logical grouping of scanners that share network
proximity to target assets.
8. What is the purpose of sensor groups in Tenable? To organize and manage
multiple scanners for distributed scanning environments.
9. What is a scan template? A pre-configured scan configuration with specific
settings, plugins, and parameters for different scanning scenarios.
10. What are the built-in scan templates in Tenable? Basic Network Scan,
Advanced Scan, Web Application Tests, Malware Scan, PCI Quarterly External
Scan, and others.
,11. What is the Vulnerability Priority Rating (VPR)? A dynamic scoring
system that prioritizes vulnerabilities based on threat intelligence and technical
impact.
12. How does VPR differ from CVSS? VPR considers real-world threat data
and exploit availability, while CVSS is a static score based on technical
characteristics.
13. What is the VPR score range? 0.1 to 10.0, with higher scores indicating
higher priority.
14. What is Asset Criticality Rating (ACR)? A user-defined rating (Low,
Medium, High, Critical) that indicates the business importance of an asset.
15. What is Predictive Prioritization? Tenable's algorithm that combines VPR
and other factors to predict which vulnerabilities are most likely to be exploited.
16. What is the Cyber Exposure Score? A metric that quantifies an
organization's overall cybersecurity risk posture.
17. What are asset tags in Tenable? Labels that can be applied to assets for
organization, filtering, and reporting purposes.
18. What is dynamic asset tagging? Automatically applying tags to assets
based on rules and criteria such as IP range, operating system, or vulnerability
presence.
19. What is a plugin? A detection module that checks for specific
vulnerabilities, configuration issues, or compliance violations.
20. What is a plugin family? A category grouping related plugins together
(e.g., Windows, Databases, Web Servers).
21. How often are Tenable plugins updated? Daily, as new vulnerabilities are
discovered and disclosed.
22. What is the plugin feed? The service that delivers updated plugins to
Nessus scanners.
23. What are the different plugin feed types? Home Feed (48-hour delay),
Professional Feed (real-time for Nessus Professional), and Enterprise Feed
(real-time for managed scanners).
24. What is a compliance audit in Tenable? A scan that checks systems
against compliance frameworks like PCI DSS, HIPAA, CIS benchmarks, or
custom policies.
, 25. What file formats does Tenable support for compliance audits? .audit
files that contain compliance checks and expected configurations.
26. What is a credentialed scan? A scan that uses authentication credentials to
perform deeper, more thorough assessments of target systems.
27. What types of credentials can Tenable use? SSH, Windows
(local/domain), SNMP, ESXi, database credentials, and various application-
specific credentials.
28. What is least-privileged scanning? Using accounts with minimum
necessary permissions to perform vulnerability scans while maintaining
security.
29. What permissions are needed for Windows credentialed scans? Local
administrator or domain administrator rights, with access to administrative
shares.
30. What permissions are needed for Linux credentialed scans? SSH access
with sudo or root privileges.
31. What is the recommended approach for credential management? Use
dedicated service accounts with appropriate permissions, rotate credentials
regularly, and use encrypted credential storage.
32. What is a scan policy? A reusable configuration template that defines scan
settings, plugins, credentials, and compliance checks.
33. What is the difference between a scan template and a scan policy?
Templates are pre-built by Tenable; policies are custom configurations created
by users.
34. What is a discovery scan? A lightweight scan designed to identify active
assets on the network without performing deep vulnerability assessment.
35. What protocols does Tenable use for asset discovery? ICMP, TCP/UDP
port scanning, ARP, SNMP, NetBIOS, and various application-specific
protocols.
36. What is passive network monitoring? Observing network traffic without
actively scanning to identify assets and detect vulnerabilities.
37. What Tenable product performs passive monitoring? Nessus Network
Monitor (NNM) or Passive Vulnerability Scanner (PVS).
38. What is the benefit of passive scanning? Non-intrusive monitoring that
doesn't generate network traffic or potentially disrupt systems.
